Workers Compensation Injuries

There are several types of injury related accidents and incidents in a Georgia workers compensation claim:

Incident Only Without medical intervention

This is when an employee slips or fall and injures himself and files a report with his employer. The claim goes to the insurance agency to be processed, the agency will decide if any claim is to be made and any benefits to be paid to you. They have to file in due time or face fines by state laws. A Georgia Workers Compensation lawyer can help you get a fair and just decision. You should see a physician as soon as yiu can to preserve your claim.

Medical Only Incidents with Doctor or emergency room intervention

If an employee has been injured and needs medical assistance, the cost are covered by the insurance agency. If the employee is injured beyond the benefits of the insurance agency then he is eligible for coverage of expenses beyond what the insurance does not cover. If you are underd the care of a doctor your employer and your employers workers compensation insurance company will have one of theor doctors evaluate you for your extent of disability and ability to return to work This is called an independent medical exam. You must have a georgia workers compenstion lawyer protect your rights.

Lost Time Workers Compensation Coverage will cover you when you have lost time form work

If you is unable to get back to work due to on going medical conditions, he is covered under the law to collect workers compensation benefits. Three types of lost time coverage to consider if you’re unable to return to work. A workers compensation lawyer should be hired to protect your rights and the rights of your family. if there has been an on the job wrongfull death the family should hire a lawyer to protect their eligibility for survivor benefits

Temporary

Partial

Death

Wrongful Death while On The Job Workers Compensation benefits

An untimely death can leave remaining family members in a difficult situation, emotionally, financially and legally. A wrongful death on the job can be considered part of personal injury law. Death due to dangerous toxic substances is part of class action or tort law.

Toxic Injury and Wrongful death After Chemical Exposure to Hazardous Substances on the Job

Employers and manufacturers of industrial and household chemicals may be held accountable when employees suffer toxic injury after chemical exposure to substances such as the following:

Benzene,

Diesel fuel,

Gasoline,

Brake cleaner,

Parts cleaner,

Kerosene,

Toluene,,

Naptha,

Thinner,

Solvent,

Asbestos, Mesothelioma,

Employers are responsible for providing proper training and implementing safety measures when employees must use dangerous chemicals such as these in the course of their jobs. Workers need to know that they are legally entitled to look at the MSDS (material safety data sheet) for hazardous substances that they may be exposed to on the job.

Seamen and Harbor Workers Injury and Wrongful Death, Injury at Sea

Failure to adequately hire, train, or staff the vessel.

Not providing proper or adequate gear, protective clothing, or equipment for the job.

Failure to follow or enforce safety measures, including the removal of safety features on machines.

A Carpal Tunnel Syndrome lawyer is a workers compensation lawyer who can fight for your rights if you have carpal tunnel from a work related injury. Carpal tunnel comes from repetitive motion of the wrists putting pressure on the nerve called the carpal. Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when the median nerve, which runs from the forearm into the palm of the hand, becomes pressed or squeezed at the wrist. The median nerve controls sensations to the palm side of the thumb and fingers (although not the little finger), as well as impulses to some small muscles in the hand that allow the fingers and thumb to move. Carpal tunnel is a very common work related injury.

Who Gets Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Typist

Cashier

Manufacturing work

Musician

Bank teller

Clerical worker

Plumber

Electrician

Construction work

Computer programmer

Symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Numbness or tingling in the thumb and next two or three fingers of one or both hands

Numbness or tingling of the palm of the hand

Pain extending to the elbow

Pain in wrist or hand in one or both hands

Problems with fine finger movements (coordination) in one or both hands

Wasting away of the muscle under the thumb (in advanced or long-term cases)

Weak grip or difficulty carrying bags (a common complaint)

Weakness in one or both hands

What causes carpal tunnel syndrome?

repetitive and forceful grasping with the hands

repetitive bending of the wrist

broken or dislocated bones in the wrist which produce swelling

arthritis

thyroid gland imbalance

excessive typing

hormonal changes associated with menopause

pregnancy

A workers compensation, carpal tunnel syndrome lawyer can help you get compensation and rehabilitation for carpal tunnel work related injuries.

What it means: In Georgia, a worker's injury while instinctively responding to a dangerous situation while on duty and performing a work-related task benefitting her employer is compensable.

Summary: The head custodian for an elementary school was required to unlock and open the gates leading to the school parking lot before other employees arrived each morning. She drove up to the gate and it was dark and raining. She pulled her car close to the gate so that her headlights could shine on the lock. While she was unlocking the gate, her car began to roll downhill, away from the gate. On instinct, she ran toward the car in an attempt to stop it. She tripped and fell, and the car rolled over her left foot. A few days later, her foot had to be amputated. She sought benefits. The Georgia Court of Appeals held that the custodian's injury was compensable.

At the time the custodian's car began to roll, she was on duty, physically located where her job duties required her to be, and she was unlocking the gate, a task required by her job duties and of benefit to the school. The court said that "but for the necessity that she stop her car on the sloped driveway" to open the gate, the accident would not have occurred.

The court explained that this was not an instance where a worker consciously decided to take advantage of a break in her workday to run a personal errand. The custodian responded "instinctively and instantaneously" to a dangerous situation that arose directly out of the performance of her job duties. To say that her attempt to stop the rolling car was a personal mission would contravene the humanitarian purpose of workers' compensation.

For the Injured Worker, Workers Compensation lawyers are here to help you if you have been injured on the job,

When a fiery blast rocked the Imperial Sugar refinery on the banks of the Savannah River four years ago this week, killing 14 workers and injuring dozens more, people were horrified, saddened and then outraged by an accident later deemed preventable.

Many committed themselves in the years that followed that unforgettable night to two words:

Never again.

So what went wrong?

Why doesn’t the nation have new safety rules that could prevent accidents caused by combustible dust in workplaces?

Why are Washington politicians — with the notable exception of U.S. Rep. John Barrow, D-Savannah — treating this issue like an outbreak of political E. coli?

Does anyone outside Southeast Georgia, where many families will carry the hurt from this catastrophe for a long time, really care?

Let’s answer the last question first: Probably not.

That’s harsh. But sadly, it’s reality. Most people who didn’t lose loved ones or co-workers or who aren’t living with horribly scarred skin have other things on their minds.

Four years doesn’t sound like a long time. But the public’s attention span gets shorter by the nanosecond. What attracts eyeballs one moment causes eyelids to droop the next.

The nation’s finest scientists with the U,S. Chemical Safety Board still care passionately. They have been studying combustible dust since a series of deadly fires and explosions in 2003.

In 2006 — two years before the Imperial Sugar blast — they released a report that found 281 dust explosions and fires in the U.S. between 1980 and 2005. They noted that 119 workers were killed and 718 were injured. Given these clear and present dangers, they recommended then that the Occupational Health and Safety Administration develop regulations for controlling dust hazards.

So how are the scientists faring, even after the 14 additional Imperial Sugar deaths in 2008 and five more workers killed last year at a Tennessee metal powers plant?

Not so well. In late January, OSHA published its twice-annual regulatory agenda. Here’s the agency’s outlook on combustible dust: “Next action undetermined.”

Who is Moure-Eraso and why is he flummoxed? He’s the chairman of the Chemical Safety Board. He’s one of five board members who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, then serve five-year terms. He and his peers investigate accidents, determine root causes and make recommendations.

Moure-Eraso has two master’s degrees and a doctorate. But in one way, he’s as dense as a brick.

Put simply, most lawmakers and members of the Obama administration don’t give a rip about pushing forward with dust rules right now. Why? Because the public doesn’t seem to give a rip either. Besides, just look at the nifty photographs of Imperial Sugar’s new refinery, built with insurance money. The images suggest a place that’s so clean you could almost lick Dixie Crystals off the floor.

So maybe those pesky rules aren’t needed, right? Maybe. At least not until another plant explodes.

Moure-Eraso may know beans about politics. But he understands one thing that the president and 99 percent of all congressmen don’t: “We do know that workers keep dying,” he told the AP.

Just not often enough.

Tom Barton is the editorial page editor of the Savannah Morning News.

For the injured worker and the Workers CompenstionHelpline is ready to help you if you have been injured due to poor afety at the workplace or a refinery in Georgia